Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I had started it awhile ago but then there were finals and family things and just one thing after another and I finally just finished this chapter. Since it's summer I'm hoping I'll get to write more and the chapters will be coming much faster. Hope you enjoy and don't forget to vote and review!!!
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Charles POV~
I looked over at Kael as we prepared the rope to go down into the hole that Jess had fallen into five years ago. Kael didn't look back and just continued with the rope. Jess disappearing had really affected him and I know he didn't want to really do this but he had told me that he wouldn't let me go on "this stupid goose chase" alone. I know he still had a bit of hope that she was alive but he had been trying to convince himself since her funeral that she was gone. I knew she was alive though. I don't know how I just did, and I had been trying to get a search crew to explore the caves ever since. When she first went missing we called Search and Rescue and they had done a search but I always felt they didn't go deep enough into the caves.
So here we were with our own equipment and getting ready to do our own search. I know it had been a long time since she went missing but I still had hope and I could see the small glint of hope in his eyes. He had still been waiting for her to walk through the door any day now, and finally I convinced him to do our own search.
"I'll go down first." I said before grabbing the rope and slipping inside. When I finally got to the bottom I turned on the light on my helmet and looked around before tugging on the rope to let the others know it was okay. Shelly came down first followed by Erik and Isaac before Kael finally came slipping down. They all turned on their lights and looked around before pulling out their guns.
"You sure about this Charles?" Shelly asked as I looked around and found three ways they could have gone.
"Yeah. I've been doing research a lot. Sex slave traders have been working underground a lot like this lately. I know whatever got Jess had to be human from the way she was talking to them. And we would have heard if it was some animal." I said as he started leading the way down the path in front of us.
"Don't you think she would have been sold by now?" Erik asked as Kael got an angry and sad look.
"Yeah. But if we at least find where they went maybe we can find someone that we can get her location from." I said, already having gone over this scenario in my head several times. Erik nodded and we continued down the passageway. We got to another place that had several passageways and I stopped.
"Which way do you think?" I asked Isaac. He pulled out his compass.
"That way. The center of the mountain is east so we want to go through that passage way." He said, pointing to the one on the right. I nodded and started leading them again. It was silent except for our footsteps and breathing and it was for this reason that I heard the small growl from one of the side passageways. I looked to my left and jumped back and pointed my gun at... a neko?!
"What the hell?" I asked. The thing in front of me was defiantly a neko and it was pointing a spear right at me, growling slightly. Suddenly there was another one right behind the first and he put his hand on his shoulder, making him lower the spear. He looked all of us over, seeing the shock on our faces and looking slightly amused.
"Jess?" he suddenly asked. We all gasped and I almost grabbed at him.
"Where is she?" I asked, slightly pissed off. The neko continued to look at us all amused before twitching with his tail as if beckoning us to follow him.
"Come." He said. I looked at the others, who were still looking after him in shock and decided we better follow. Me moving seemed to snap the others out of it and they followed behind me. The other neko waited for us to pass before taking up the rear. We walked for a minute before three other nekos joined us.
